(03-20-2015, 04:07 AM)Natalie Mcbeef Wrote:(03-20-2015, 03:51 AM)ArmachiA Wrote: I think what makes a good villain is what also makes a good hero - well roundedness. A Villian should be just as fleshed out as a hero would be, having motivations behind what they do beyond "I am evil".
That's it, really.
Even Hedonistic Villains can fall into under umbrella, provided they are fleshed out well enough. There are plenty of very good Hedonistic Villains in fiction and as long as they aren't pressuring or harassing me for ERP, they can be a hedonistic as they like.
The problem is, as Verad says. Many villains aren't logical or have good motivations. That's part of what makes villains scary. They don't play by the same rules as 'normal' people.
I think many villains do have good reasons for why they're doing what they're doing. However I don't think it's a prerequisite.
That's the thing for me, though. I find some of the best villains to be the ones where you can actually see the reasons for what they do. You hate them for doing it, but it makes... sense in some twisted sort of way. From their point of view, they're perfectly in the right and justified in their actions - even if it seems evil and crazy to everyone else. Qhora's mentioning of the Batman villains works well, and to use a more recent example - Senator Armstrong from Revengeance.
Not to say crazy evil doesn't have its place - my favorite Final Fantasy villain is still Kefka, after all.
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